This woodturning project, a small bowl turned from apricot, was a nice short fun project. The wood came from urban forestry, meaning, I helped a neighbor cut down the apricot tree he didn’t want in his yard anymore. I was glad to help in return for the wood. At the beginning of the bowl turning, […]
Read More...Sometimes, we need a reminder of the risks involved in woodturning projects, particularly when turning a bowl harvested from random sources, sometimes called urban forestry. I harvest wood where ever I can hoping for a big turning blank and fantastic grain and figure. This apricot wood blank was from the main trunk, one of the biggest pieces […]
Read More...This woodturning project picks up from a green turning disaster a couple of months ago. At that time, I turned a green piece of maple. I wanted the finish turning without waiting for the wood to dry. However, in the final moments, my gouge caught the bottom of the bowl and it exploded. Maybe I […]
Read More...Now it’s time to finish this bowl — years in the making because I was distracted by work and family. But it’s also scary to finish turn a large bowl like this one. A large blank like this one is rare, very hard to come by. I rough turned it years ago and waited for […]
Read More...For this lathe woodturning project, I rough turned a piece of maple about three weeks ago. The maple was green which is very easy to turn. I wanted a natural edge bowl. At the time, I considered finishing it in just the one mounting. However, wet wood clogs sandpaper very quickly. So, I thought I’d […]
Read More...It’s long past time to finish this woodturning project. This piece of plum came originally from a tree in my back yard. Several years ago, I rough turned it, painted it with a wax emulsion, placed it in a brown paper bag and left it on my shelf. During the drying process, it shrunk radically […]
Read More...Turning green wood is a pleasure. Shavings fly off in wonderful cascades. But, the challenge comes when the drying wood splits or develops a crack. Don’t throw away the bowl. Instead, turn it into a creative opportunity by concealing, accepting or emphasizing the crack. Creative opportunity just knocked.
Read More...I rough turned this bowl on my wood lathe. Then I coated it with was, wrapped it in brown paper bags, and left it on a shelf in the shop to dry. Then life intervened and it has been several years. I think it is a very nice woodturning project. The bowl is now dry […]
Read More...Last week we had a late spring snow storm here. The very wet snow brought a maple limb down on a friend’s home. He cut the limb down from the tree and his house and gave me one of the larger limbs for woodturning. Now I owe him a bowl to give to his wife. […]
Read More...